“Okay. I’m for home and a shower,” Jodi said. “Jane, what am I tonight, cop or guest? Because if I’m a guest I have no idea what to wear.”
Wrassler said, “The house has a few cocktail dresses on hand for when the blood-servants have to do formal-wear duty. You look like about a size eight?” Jodi nodded uncertainly. He pulled out his cell and started keying in info. “I’ll have something delivered. You want them sent to cop central or home?”
I wasn’t sure whose mouth had dropped lower, Jodi’s or mine, but Jodi managed a “Thank you,” and gave him an address I knew wasn’t hers. Smart woman. Sending a dress from a vamp to the NOPD was likely to get her a ribbing if not questions from the brass. Giving her home address gave the vamps too much knowledge. I wondered what friend would be getting a delivery. She left quickly thereafter and I watched Wrassler watch her go. Jodi made a trim figure, her stance capable and no-nonsense.
“She didn’t give me her real address, did she?” he asked, his eyes tracking her out the front door.
“Nope.”
“She’s cautious. I like that in a woman.” Wrassler was interested. As in interested.
I hid my smile, and while his upper brain was off duty, I said, “I’d like to talk to the humans who attacked my house.”
CHAPTER 14
Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum. I Smell the Blood of a Witchy One
Wrassler’s gaze jumped from Jodi to me and went from somewhat lustful to full-on intent. Blindsided. And he gave away something, though I wasn’t sure what. I set a slightly interested expression on my face and said, “Now, if you please.”
“Leo has read them. They’re out.”
“Out as in asleep? Blood-drunk? Anemic from blood loss? Or dead?”
“Blood-drunk.” He sighed and rubbed his hand over his bald scalp. “Leo said not to take you to them, but I’m betting that won’t work for you.”
“Nope,” I said again.
“So I made a video of them, with a time stamp.” He thumbed through his phone and pulled up a video. “Here. They’re breathing but asleep. Less than two hours ago. It’ll be at least eight more hours before they wake enough to be coherent.”
“And what did Leo find?” I asked sweetly.
“Nothing you didn’t know. That Adrianna is in a lot of hot water. She got them blood-drunk, bound them, fed them the lie that Leo wanted you dead, and ordered the attack on you. She led it herself. Leo called her in, but she hasn’t shown.”
“Oh boy. Adrianna is rebelling against her sworn master of the city, in the absence of her clan blood-master.” This was like a soap opera, vamp-style. Not bothering to hide my delight, I said, “What does Grégoire think about all this?”
“Not funny. He’s pissed that Leo hasn’t found her. Scuttlebutt says he’s leaving Atlanta and coming home to deal with her.”
I chuckled. “Out-of-town guests, his heir missing employees, a missing witch in his town, and open rebellion in his ranks, the European Council on the warpath, and his second most powerful clan in the hands of Adrianna, a psycho Celt with fangs. Yeah. Leo’s not happy.”
“Keep that laughter to yourself,” Wrassler advised. “Leo’s sent his Mercy Blade to find Adrianna.”
“Ah.” And that said it all. My smiled faded. Vamp law in the United States was not yet the same as human law, with Leo having declared them to be independent, the way tribal Americans were independent. Sorta. So far, the political and justice systems seemed happy with that, because incorporating the superstrong, human-blood-drinking, daylight-sensitive vamps and the full-moon-shifting weres into the human legal system meant very expensive changes to police departments, jails, and prisons. For vamps, the Mercy Blades took the place of cops, acting under the direction of the vampire to whom they were sworn. Gee DiMercy had several duties, and one was to give the mercy stroke of death to vampires who were insane, but who were still part of a master’s clan or house. The fact that Gee DiMercy had been sent after Adrianna meant that she had been given a death sentence by her master.
My job as a rogue-vamp hunter was a bit different. I usually tracked down the unaffiliated insane vamps and killed them. Or I had until I’d taken the job from Leo and gotten my Beast bound. Dumb move, that.
I let all the info shuffle through my mind. I didn’t like Adrianna. She was totally psychotic. She had attacked my house when my godchildren were inside. She wanted me dead. I didn’t necessarily want her dead, just . . . contained. Maybe in a silver cage. Not that I had any say in the matter.